If you’re anything like us, you got your first good look at the official trailer for UFC 126 on Saturday night during the Fight for the Troops show on SpikeTV and thought, “Wow, almost everything said during that 31 seconds is extremely debatable.” Granted, the UFC is known for its revisionist history and these promotional spots are typically designed to bend the truth however much is necessary to get dudes who don’t really know that much about MMA interested in dropping 50 bones on the per-per-view. Even considering that, this particular commercial seems pretty, uh, erroneous. Anyway, watch it, then follow the jump for our picks of the five most questionable assertions made here …

1. Vitor Belfort has “12 first-round knockout victories” … That sure sounded like a lot, so we went back and counted. And then counted again. And again. Turns out, Belfort only has 11 first-round KOs in MMA. That’s still impressive, but keep in mind seven of those came before 2005 and the number also includes his bullshit win over Randy Couture at UFC 46, when Couture couldn’t continue after a seam on Belfort’s glove sliced his eyelid during a missed punch. To give Belfort “12 first-round knockouts,” you have to count his lone career boxing win over some guy named Josemario Neves in Brazil in 2006. The UFC probably would’ve been better off just to say “13 first-round stoppages,” because then you could include his arm bar win over Joe Charles at UFC Japan and choke out of Bobby Southworth at Pride 13. 2. In Belfort, Anderson Silva has “finally met his match” … The UFC has long had a weird hard-on for Belfort, dating back to when SEG thought he’d be the savior of their business in the late ’90s. Strictly speaking however, Belfort has only fought once since his latest return to the UFC in 2009. Prior to that, he went 2-3 during his previous stint in the Octagon from 2002-05. Even in this commercial, the best Belfort highlights the UFC could scrounge up are his 1997 win over Tank Abbott and his 1998 blitzing of Wanderlei Silva. In light of that, saying Silva has “met his match” in “The Phenom” feels incredibly premature.

3. Silva is still the “pound-for-pound king” of MMA … Anderson Silva being the “best fighter in the world” is essentially an official mantra of the UFC at this point. They repeat it over and over, insisting it’s true so vehemently that you almost have to call bullshit on it. For our money, if you compare what “The Spider’s” done over the last couple of years to, say, welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre it’s almost indefensible to hold on to the fading ideal that Silva is still No. 1 on the mythical pound-for-pound list.

4. Belfort is a “former light heavyweight champion” … Yeah, he is. Technically. But remember that thing about a seam on his glove cutting Couture’s eye during a whiffed strike? That’s how he won the title. Legend has it he even went to Couture’s hotel room later that night to try to give the belt back, but Couture wouldn’t take it. Anyway, Belfort held the championship just shy of seven months before Randy came back and whipped his ass during his first title defense at UFC 49. Then Tito Ortiz beat him at UFC 51 and he got cut from the organization. So is Belfort a“former light heavyweight champion”? Sure, but only in the loosest conceivable way. Is it possible to question the legitmimacy of his entire title reign? We think we just did.

5. Jon Jones and Ryan Bader will “fight for control of the light heavyweight ranks” … OK, now we know this one is untrue. Last we checked, Shogun Rua still controlled the light heavyweight ranks and just this weekend Dana White blew our fucking minds by saying (for some god-awful reason) they’re going to give Rampage Jackson a shot at the winner of Rua vs. Rashad Evans at UFC 128. That puts“Bones” and “Darth” still a good distance away from “controlling” anything. Says Dana: "We’ve got Jon Jones and Ryan Bader on Feb. 5, which is going to be a great fight and catapults one of those guys to the top five.” Top five? WTF.

Cagepotato Comments

Showing 1-25 of comments

@Humperdinkal - Anderson has lost to fighters not even known? Known to who? You? BTW - Chonan's flying scissor heel hook, or leg lock, or whatever...one in a million fluke...total badass for pulling it off, but still (last actual loss, back in 2004). And the Okami loss was a DQ...means as much as Bones' "loss" to Hammill.

Remaining undefeated (in the UFC) for this long, and fighting everyone put in front of you, AND moving weight classes over a short period of time, does NOT equal over rated.

Anderson HANDLED Forrest...so let's put it into perspective. Your number 1 guy, GSP - do you think he could move to 185 and handle Rich Franklin, or Dan Henderson, or Sonnen? I say, no way. But that's just me.

MonsterMaulingAss- January 25, 2011 at 1:04 pm

@orlandomac

I agree with much of what you said, however..............Jon jones is in no way a better striker than Shogun who has outstruck the divisions best strikers(rampage, machida, chuck, lil nog, he even ko'd the reem twice!). Jake O'Brien was getting the best of jones in many of their exchanges until jones landed that spinning backfist and went modified guillotine on his ass

Furthermore, Shogun has showed what he can do to a great wrestler back in pride when he had Randleman(the same guy who suplexed the shit out of fedor)in the ugliest knee bar ive ever seen

Limfamous- January 25, 2011 at 12:59 pm

orlandomac's post FTW

ReX13- January 25, 2011 at 10:34 am

humperdinkal >> No probs, yo.

humperdinkal- January 25, 2011 at 9:45 am

Rex,
You're right, my computer was having it's issues once I pressed post, hence had no idea it kept on double, quadrupal, etc..posting..LOL
Not trying to troll, sorry about the 13 clicks CP.

I dig CP alot but I have realized that AS will always be hated on this site, especially when he is compared to GSP, their "great white hype!" I think GSP is right up there with AS but GSP has two losses in the UFC. The loss to MH is forgivable but is still a loss and the loss to MS, is just shameful. You would think that AS would get more respect being how he has pretty much shit on everyone he has fought in two weight classes and the fact that many of those he fought seem to have their careers completely implode. Yes, you are going to get those people who bring up Sonnen but that fight still ended in a W for AS and thanks to all of Sonne's bullshit, all of Sonnen's fights should have more *'s next to it than MLB's hall of famers and home run records combined.

humperdinkal >> Calm down! Just hit 'submit' once and then go get a beer or something, it takes awhile. This guy has 13 duplicate posts.

manny46064- January 25, 2011 at 8:36 am

I don't understand the confusion over 'Page getting the shot. Having him fight T Silva didn't make much sense in terms of title contention. Also, Rampage is $$$ for the UFC. In fact, Evans vs Rampage was one of the biggest PPV in recent years, behind Lesnar. A Shogun v Rampage fight is an easy sell...show footage from their first fight...'Rampage looks to settle the score...' etc.

Rampage is STILL top 4 in UFC LHW division. No-one outside of that status deserves a shot. Personally, i don't think the division is as stacked as made out to be. Bader, Jones, Rich, Forrest...none of them deserve a title shot yet.

BTW - I think Rampage could and should beat Evans in a rematch. i don't see Evans beating Shogun, Machida or Rampage. BUT, i think Rampage could beat Machida again. A Rampage v Shogun matchup would be a good fight.

fACE7biter- January 25, 2011 at 7:49 am

I gotta assume giving Rampage the shot was because they want the winners of Franklin/Griffin and Jones/Bader to fight eachother for the next contender. That will basically tie up the division for the rest of the year, and will produce a deserving number 1 contender. Still bullshit on 'Page getting the shot but thats the only logic in the decision I can see.

humperdinkal- January 25, 2011 at 7:33 am

Just my opinion, but the UFC is way off about Anderson even coming close to ever being a top five all time P for P.
Top five past, present of all time.

*Future pound for pound top one and two potentially:
Cain Valasquez, Jon "Bones" Jones.

Just my opinion. You guys on here definitely know your shit when it comes to MMA. While I hardly post anything, I wanted to hear your opinions since as a MMA fan, throughout the beginning, these five guys based on talent, caliber of fighters they've defeated and how the way they won their fights, many in utter domination.
I feel people tend to sway towards fighters who have the most current number of wins in a row, with some exceptions. GSP, by far pound for pound, but because he doesn't win the way many people feel he should as a champion(which I disagree with) he is underrated as the top by some.

Anderson Silva; Very debatable. Ex/Caliber of fighters fought in UFC. Top two(although chael gave him withoiut a doubt the biggest problem, overall not top two he's fought)
Dan Henderson. and I can't believe I'm saying this but Rich Ace Franklin(very underated)

Anderson Silva is overrated!!!! He has lost against fighters not even known.
The talent of fighters he has fought through the UFC is a subpar avg.
Concerning Vitor, unfortunately his career has been at best wobbly. Yet, out of the fighters Anderson has fought, the one guy to test his chin, will be Vitor.
I believe the only chance Vitor has which is IMO a very good one, is a fast combination of punches. If Anderson can actually bypass that, say goodbye Vitor.
However, my gut is saying, Vitor is going to surprise many people.
I'm sure alot of you thought Cain V was going to defeat Brock. I know I did, and he destroyed him.
throughtout the past few years, it seems there has been the most shocking victories(Forrest G win over Mauricion Shogun as a prime example)
The one thing I agree with in the promo is Vitor being someone to test Silva's chin a ding ding..
As the past shows, Vitor has one of the deadliest if not, most poweful combo.
He lands those on Silva, chances are it's goodnight Irene.
My gut says something like that will happen. Vitor will be the new champion(if he can KO Silva which is a high prob in the first round or round and a half.)

Orlandomac-Alot of what you say makes sense. However, two things; Bader in no way in hell will defeat Rua, while I agree Jon Jones is the one who has the potential in doing so.
Other point you mentioned was Griffin def Rua-Rua just got in the UFC, was not in shape, and almost lost against Mark Coleman soon after.
Forrest Griffin I can't begin to even reason why he is still with the organization.
He's a fighter, not an MMA artist.

ReX13- January 25, 2011 at 7:15 am

Man, i can't believe Stak40 isn't in here yelling and throwing things after all this disrespect of Anderson "Enjoy yourself, bitches" Silva.

ArmFarmer- January 25, 2011 at 7:15 am

@fatbellyfank

No, for the same reason you already stated. Who outside of ufc can compare to the level of competition they've faced and beaten?

humperdinkal- January 25, 2011 at 7:15 am

Orlandomag-I agree with alot you say. Good post

DarkmanX- January 25, 2011 at 6:52 am

that was a BS column...when Rua first came to the UFC he looked like shit.....now he is the top dog...Belfort is talent.....He will come after Silva.....I love how negative opinions come from people who just sit and don't do shit to put their ass on the line....it's easy to be negative...step in the ring so I can talk shit about you

fatbellyfrank- January 25, 2011 at 6:24 am

@ armfarmer, wouldn't that be P4P kings of UFC? I know its pedantic, and I can't think of anyone in SF, Bellator, CFC, EFC et al who would beat either guy, but if you only fight in one organisation, surely you can only be considered champ of THAT organisation?

ArmFarmer- January 25, 2011 at 4:37 am

Anderson Silva hasn't lost a single fight in the ufc and has held the belt since his 2nd ufc fight. GSP has been stopped in the first round twice. Those are the only two guys who could possibly be "pfp kings" of mma, so I don't think that claim is that terribly outrageous...

Yazloz18- January 25, 2011 at 2:47 am

Its not the first time they have stretched the truth or even flat out lied. Last year leading up to the Mir/Carwin fight they talked about how Carwin had knocked out every opponent he had ever faced in the first round. They did go back and fix it eventually to say all his fights were first round stoppages but the UFC hype train taking liberties and bending the truth is nothing new, hell on that same card we heard over and over how Dan Hardy(who I love) was the WW divisions top KO artist when he had exactly one KO in the UFC. We still hear about the power in his hands despite having been KOed as many times as he has KOed opponents. Still I guess that despite his desire to be the only MMA organization, Dana needs the others to help build up fighters, because its kinda hard to justify giving a guy a title shot at 185 when his last win in your organization was 16 months ago, in a 195 catch weight bout.

Tobi-Wan Kenobi- January 25, 2011 at 1:29 am

Ridiculous attempt to build up a fighter who really only has beaten 1 quality fighter lately, and that was 1½ years ago. I'm not saying Vitor has no chance, but that "finally met his match" bullshit is weak. If this was a Strikeforce advertisement Dana would leap at the opportunity to point some of this stuff out.

ghostboner- January 25, 2011 at 1:06 am

Manny4#### makes an excellent point, as far as P4P goes you don't see GSP beating anyone at 185 on a whim do ya? Nor do we see him finishing fights. Gotta hand it to Anderson.

DownNolaII - Awesome name, but Rampage is getting a shot because he is Dana's cash cow/rump ranger. Do you see Dana giving title shots out to other guys coming off a decision (and a controversial one at that)? If you said yes, ask Gray Maynard how well that worked out for him. Or Jon Fish for that matter. On the plus side, If Rashard beats Shogun than we get Rampage-Rashard II. Wait, did I say plus side?

Skeletor I missed you. Your comments are always so explosive and athletic.

ghostboner- January 25, 2011 at 12:56 am

Orlandosmac, I didn't read your fucking iliad that you just wrote, but I did see that you said boner is going to smash everyone in the division. Unless you're talking about the childrens division, you are wrong, I won't be smashing anyone. I'm too little, plus I have hypogonadism. It makes me non-agressive.

TheWarsawExpress- January 24, 2011 at 9:42 pm

bones v silva! dana, make it happen.

orlandomac- January 24, 2011 at 8:48 pm

Just watched the commercial again the part about Jon Jones & Bader fighting for the top of the LHW ranks.. could also be taken as the top of the rank and file.. which is an old common term and wouldn't necessarily mean the top of the division, just of the rank and file.. which is the middle ground.

Either way Boner.. is going to smash everyone in that division.. and it will be fun watching. Then hopefully at some point we can get to see Anderson fight Boner.. so we can watch Jones toy with Silva like he did disrespectfully to other fighters.
Although GSP with his wrestling should beat Anderson.. but it won't be pretty. Jones would make it pretty..

pretty lop-sided.

orlandomac- January 24, 2011 at 8:36 pm

Who the hell pooped in your soup?

First of all.. Dana & UFC have declared Anderson the P4P for forever.. just because you have GSP at the top doesn't make it any more real. Personally I rate GSP too at the top.. but they are consistent in their beliefs... just because you say it so... don't make it so.. especially when you don't own any fight league.

Now if Vitor got 12 TKO's in the first round then it is 12.. last time I checked boxing used rounds too.. and it doesn't matter if he stabbed Randy in the eye with a cleaver if the ref gave him the TKO than it is a TKO.. not french fries at Mickey D's.

As for Silva has finally met his match.. what they mean is that Anderson Silva is an amazing striker.. and Belfort who KTFO of Franklin & Lindland in a way only a couple can say... at any weight (not even Fedor can say that). His recent record Middleweight.. is impressive.. not even a losing record at LHW will change the fact is he is a super powerful MW. Vitor is technically considered as good a pure puncher as Silva.. maybe not as accurate but more powerful.

Next...Belfort was LHW Champ.. yes or no.. ? no maybe's not how many months does it take.. Yes or No..?

As for the Jon Jones v Bader fight.. if you don't realize yet that most likely Jon Jones will win and is going to smash the upper echelon of the LHW's then you clearly are the one that hasn't been watching enough MMA... not the newb's.

I love Rua but he is going to be smashed in a straight up battle with Jon Jones.. not only is Jon Jones a better striker.. he is a superior wrestler..with longer reach, more athletic, way bigger, and has greater mobility (how many Rua knee ops?).

If you don't think that a tall energetic, naturally strong HW who cuts to 205 won't give Rua fits.. then rewind to Forrest Griffin who smashed Rua.. and choked his butt out. Jon Jones is Forrest multiplied by 30.

If Bader does win by chance.. he too as a pure wrestler will smash Rua.. any great wrestler will.

I will be surprised if Rua holds onto his belt against Rashad.

So control of the division.. is straight on.. right now not the future. Whoever wins that fight will be crowned champ.. soon.. PERIOD.

Besides all this time you spent dissecting a commercial who's main intent is to market an entertainment event by primarily getting people excited by promoting a fight is not healthy.

What did you expect them to say? Our best card was 116 this isn't anywhere near that card.. and if you save your money you can buy a ticket in Toronto where they will have 3 great fights instead of 2?

Who is delusional here?

I remember Muhammad Ali advertising that he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.. truth is he did not. None of that was ever proven under clinical trials.. but at the same time no reporter took his hyping of a fight to task and to the letter of the law (clearly it was false advertisement). Surely if they had they would've looked foolish.

KarmaAteMyCat- January 24, 2011 at 8:27 pm

Well written article I don't really care though. Semantics are just semantics and who really cares? On Feb 5th Belfort gets KTFO, Jon jones beats another wrestler and well Forrest and Rich get to bang it out until one of them cant stand. Sounds like an all around decent card to me. Somebody really enjoys being on the UFCs shit list. :)

fatbellyfrank- January 24, 2011 at 8:17 pm

Dubious claims to promote fights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whatever will these marketing types come up with next, sheesh

"Who is a unstoppable undefeated wrestler with unbelievable promise and four first round stoppages? check out Ben Askren as he battles for control of the welterweight ranks!"

DOWNola II- January 24, 2011 at 6:33 pm

The "god-awful" reason 'Page gets a title shot is because he decisively beat Machida.

rampageisgod- January 24, 2011 at 6:19 pm

Your constant slights against Rampage make me sad.

skeletor- January 24, 2011 at 6:12 pm

Obviously anderson is not quite as athletic and explosive as Vitor which is strange because at first glance you would think the opposite.

Either way everybody has been hyping the shit out of this fight and I have a strange feeling everybody is going to be very unhappy. Unless seeing Vitor get completely outclassed within the first round makes you happy, then you'll probably enjoy this fight.

hooligun- January 24, 2011 at 5:55 pm

more weak shit. need some QC cp, and fast.

manny46064- January 24, 2011 at 5:40 pm

ok...not agreeing with the criticism of Silva. No-one has emerged as a better star for the P4P honor. Fedor lost in 2010, so of course UFC is going to push their guy. GSP - hard time picking someone who doesn't finish as many fights as Silva. Silva won his last fight by submission, but that's not impressive enough? also, he knocks guys out a weigh-class above, and basically destroys their careers in the process. He makes a weight jump on a whim...GSP won't do it without years of preparation to adjust his body, blardy blardy blar.

justscrappin- January 24, 2011 at 5:15 pm

Is it possible to question the legitmimacy of your writing skills. I kid I kid.....this article is great...for me to poop on. No really though way to actually pay attention to a couple of their lofty and sometimes false claims. I would say the pound for pound thing isn't so horrible though...he did clown 2 lhw's and really if he didn't get bored and play with a couple of opponents..he probably would have shit on their lives in like 2 minutes. I see GSP having to dry hump a few of his wins out of his opponents...which I deem just as boring and hard to watch. As far as Vitor being a former champ...let the man have it. Yes they shouldn't have said that Jones and Bader are fighting for control of the division. They should have made some sort of " future of the division " reference. I was wondering if you would like some lice shampoo to go with your nitpicking?

nonfiction- January 24, 2011 at 4:56 pm

ATEAM

kiai_NT- January 24, 2011 at 4:45 pm

I'm tired of Silva...I want belfort to knock his ass out...but I also wanna see him fight GSP.........I guess it's up to Jesus tho.

Paradoxx- January 24, 2011 at 4:45 pm

If Barnet could be called the #2 HW...the UFC an say GSP is a cyborg and be more truthful

nonfiction- January 24, 2011 at 4:40 pm

Rampage gets the title shot via the "A team" clause

TheWarsawExpress- January 24, 2011 at 4:33 pm

UFC 126 seems to be a pretty good card

DangadaDang- January 24, 2011 at 4:32 pm

Yeah I believe this is called hyping a fight, its how Tito Ortiz is still around despite his inability to win a fight

the silver hawaiian- January 24, 2011 at 4:30 pm

noizy FTW.

noizy- January 24, 2011 at 4:29 pm

If truth was a requirement in advertisement, there wouldn't be much left.